The 2nd Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo., expects to release the next software upgrade for the Global Positioning System ground system early this month and complete this refresh by early January. “We’ve done a thorough test of this routine upgrade and it passed without any anomalies,” said Col. Harold Martin, positioning, navigation, and timing division chief in Air Force Space Command’s requirements directorate. He added, “The upgrade doesn’t change the navigation message and should be transparent to GPS users.” This work builds upon previous upgrades instituted in January and March as part of the Air Force’s larger ongoing effort to improve and maintain the current GPS ground control segment until it fields the next-generation advanced control segment, dubbed OCX, in 2015. (Peterson release)
The top Air Force commander on on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and…